Radar Love

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“Radar Love”
“Radar Love” cover
Single by Golden Earring
from the album Moontan
Released 1973
Recorded 1973
Genre Hard Rock
Length 6:25
Label Polydor
Writer(s) George Kooymans/Barry Hay
Producer Golden Earring
“Radar Love”
Single by White Lion
from the album Big Game
Released 1989
Recorded 1989
Genre Glam metal
Length 5:58
Label Atlantic Records
Writer(s) George Kooymans/Barry Hay
White Lion singles chronology
"Cry for Freedom"
(1989)
"Radar Love"
(1989)
"Lights And Thunder"
(1991)

"Radar Love" was a hit by the Dutch rock band Golden Earring. The song is considered by many to be among the greatest "driving songs" ever[1] due to its lyrics about driving all night, its up-tempo beat, and its catchy sing-along chorus. The song reached #13 in the US.

Dutch and German fans knew Golden Earring (and their early incarnation The Golden Earrings) as a second-tier pop/psychedelic group dating back to the mid-1960s, but for most listeners in the United Kingdom, United States and Canada, the first exposure to the group came in 1973 with the crashing 14-note guitar-and-cymbals introduction to "Radar Love" on the local top-40 radio station. "Radar Love" is that rarity of the early '70s: a song that works both as an extended, "progressive" album track and as a hit single. Golden Earring's 1973 US album Moontan, itself a reworking of an earlier European release, was targeted at the then-expanding FM progressive rock radio audience and seemed an unlikely source for a breakout hit single: five extended jams averaging over eight minutes per song. An unknown engineer took "Radar Love", which at a relatively compact six-and-a-half minutes was already the tightest of the album cuts, excised the instrumental solos (save for a drum-and-synth break which became the focal point of the short version) and tightened the opening and closing, creating a single half the length of the original jam. Lyrically, "Radar Love" is a tale of late-night driving and ESP; the real attraction is the non-stop parade of musical invention, from the aforementioned intro and drum solo to the twin guitar responses to each vocal line in the last verse to the cascading synthesizers that crash the tune to a close. Golden Earring wouldn't have another stateside hit until 1982, with the MTV-ready "Twilight Zone", but "Radar Love" remains a rock radio staple and their defining moment. The song has been covered occasionally over the decades, including versions by White Lion, U2, R.E.M., Blue Man Group, Def Leppard, James Last, Santana and Ministry.[2]

Contents

[edit] White Lion version

The band White Lion recorded a cover of this song for their album Big Game. It was included as a playable song in 2007's Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s.

[edit] Notable Song Appearances

The song has been used in many films and television programs. Among them:

The song has also been used in at least one video game. In the Sega Genesis version of the video game Rock N' Roll Racing, but not in the Super NES port of the same game, "Radar Love" plays.

Other appearances:

[edit] References within the song

Besides being heavily referenced in pupular culture, Radar Love's lyrics themself reference another pop culture icon. Brenda Lee's song "Comin' On Strong" is the likely source for that phrase's inclusion in the lyrics.

[edit] Greatest Driving Song

"Radar Love" was voted as the 2nd greatest driving song on the 6th series of Top Gear, losing out to Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now". By contrast, on the About.com web site, it is ranked as #1 on a list of top 10 driving songs.[1]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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